Child & Adolescent Behavioral Problems
Disruptive, Impulse-Control, and Conduct Disorders (DSM-5-TR)
Oppositional behavior, aggression, conduct problems, and emotional dysregulation in youth. Includes ODD, conduct disorder, and ADHD-related behavioral challenges. Parent training approaches (PCIT, Triple P) and family therapies (FFT, MST) have strong evidence.
Prevalence: ~3.3% for ODD and ~4% (median) for conduct disorder per DSM-5-TR; community estimates for ODD mostly fall between 3% and 6%
Clinical Picture
Child therapy is a fundamentally different enterprise than adult therapy. Children communicate through play, behavior, and the body more than through words. The 'client' is almost always the family system, even when the child is the identified patient. Behavioral problems in children are frequently signals of environmental stress, developmental disruption, or trauma rather than intrinsic pathology. The evidence base is weighted toward parent-focused and family-based interventions because changing the child's relational environment is often more powerful than changing the child directly.
Treatment Considerations
Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) and Parent Management Training have strong evidence for disruptive behavior disorders. Play Therapy (both directive and non-directive) provides developmentally appropriate access to the child's inner world. Theraplay addresses attachment through structured play interactions. TF-CBT is the gold standard for child trauma. For all child presentations, assessment of the family system, school environment, and developmental history is essential before selecting a modality. The younger the child, the more the treatment should center on the caregiving relationship rather than the child alone.
Approaches and Evidence
Of 20 associated approaches, 1 have completed assessments for this topic, 9 have source checks awaiting assessment, and 10 have neither recorded yet. Each completed assessment states its population and rationale; source checks alone do not establish effectiveness. These categories describe different findings and review stages; they are not a ranking of treatments.
Guideline recommendation (1)
These assessments record a guideline recommendation for the stated population. Read the scope and rationale; a broad topic label does not make a recommendation applicable to everyone.
Multisystemic Therapy
Scott Henggeler · 1998
Reviewed population: Children and young people aged 11–17 with conduct disorder, receiving a manualized multimodal programme involving parents or carers and the young person’s wider systems.
NICE CG158 1.5.13 offers multimodal interventions and explicitly names multisystemic therapy as an example. Recommendation 1.5.14 specifies a social-learning approach across individual, family, school, justice and community settings, delivered by specially trained case managers using an evaluated manual. This is a recommendation for conduct disorder in the stated age group, not for every childhood behavioral problem, ADHD alone, generic family therapy or all MST adaptations.
Reviewed
Guidelines and official sources (2)
1 clinical guideline check · 1 professional reference check
Read the recommendation and its scope. A source may discuss an approach without recommending it.
- Antisocial behaviour and conduct disorders in children and young people (CG158)
Recommendation for the stated population
NICE explicitly names MST as an example of multimodal intervention to offer.
Scope: Ages 11–17 with conduct disorder
- Screening and treatment of substance use disorders among adolescents
Discussed in the source
SAMHSA describes MST in a treatment advisory; this is not a generic all-childhood-disorders CPG grade.
Scope: Adolescents with severe SUD and delinquent or violent behaviour
Source checks available — assessment pending (9)
Sources have been checked for this topic, but a condition-specific assessment has not been completed. Open the source notes to read each document’s population, recommendation and limitations.
Brief Strategic Family Therapy
Jose Szapocznik · 1978
Guidelines and official sources (2)
1 clinical guideline check · 1 professional reference check
Read the recommendation and its scope. A source may discuss an approach without recommending it.
- Brief Strategic Family Therapy for Adolescent Drug Abuse
Discussed in the source
NIDA published a research-based BSFT treatment manual. Publication and dissemination are different from a contemporary graded clinical recommendation.
Scope: Adolescent drug use with co-occurring behavioral problems.
- Alcohol-use disorders: diagnosis, assessment and management (CG115)
Recommendation for the stated population
NICE names BSFT among multicomponent programmes to offer for this alcohol-use population, and specifies its family-focused delivery.
Scope: BSFT for ages 10–17 with alcohol misuse and significant comorbidity or limited support.
Child-Parent Psychotherapy
Alicia Lieberman · 1995
Guidelines and official sources (2)
1 clinical guideline check · 1 evidence registry check
Read the recommendation and its scope. A source may discuss an approach without recommending it.
- Child-Parent Psychotherapy: program ratings
Not a treatment recommendation
CEBC rates CPP 1 for infant and early-childhood mental health, and 2 for child/adolescent trauma and domestic-violence services. These are topic-specific registry ratings, not clinical guideline recommendations.
Scope: Children aged 0–5 who have experienced trauma and their caregivers.
- Children’s attachment (NG26)
Discussed in the source
NICE says to consider parent–child psychotherapy based on the Cicchetti and Toth model. This specified model should not be assumed equivalent to every intervention called CPP.
Scope: Preschool attachment difficulties where parents have maltreated or are at risk of maltreating their child; safeguarding concerns must be addressed.
Functional Family Therapy
Alexander / Parsons · 1973
Guidelines and official sources (1)
1 evidence registry check
Read the recommendation and its scope. A source may discuss an approach without recommending it.
- Functional Family Therapy (FFT): program profile
Discussed in the source
The current Blueprints profile rates FFT Promising. Older descriptions of Model Plus should not be presented as the current rating. This is a registry, not a clinical guideline.
Scope: Adolescent behavior, offending and substance-use research.
Filial Therapy
Bernard Guerney · 1964
Guidelines and official sources (1)
1 evidence registry check
Read the recommendation and its scope. A source may discuss an approach without recommending it.
- Child-Parent Relationship Therapy: program ratings
Not a treatment recommendation
CEBC rates the named CPRT model 3 in its listed attachment, disruptive-behavior and parent-training topics. The rating does not apply automatically to every filial-therapy variant.
Scope: CPRT for parents of children aged 3–8 with behavioral, emotional, social or attachment concerns.
Parent-Child Interaction Therapy
Sheila Eyberg · 1988
Guidelines and official sources (1)
1 clinical guideline check
Read the recommendation and its scope. A source may discuss an approach without recommending it.
- Antisocial behaviour and conduct disorders in children and young people (CG158)
Discussed in the source
The recommendations specify parent training and its delivery; they do not name PCIT. A mention elsewhere in an evidence review would not by itself be an endorsement.
Scope: Parents of children aged 3–11 with specified conduct-problem risks or diagnoses
Play Therapy
Virginia Axline · 1947
Guidelines and official sources (1)
1 professional reference check
Read the recommendation and its scope. A source may discuss an approach without recommending it.
- CG158: four-year surveillance, child-centred play therapy
Discussed in the source
Surveillance discusses a pilot and states that CG158 has no specific child-centred play-therapy recommendation; further evidence was needed before changing guidance.
Scope: Child-centred play therapy for conduct problems
Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
Cohen / Mannarino / Deblinger · 2006
Guidelines and official sources (2)
1 clinical guideline check · 1 professional reference check
Read the recommendation and its scope. A source may discuss an approach without recommending it.
- Post-traumatic stress disorder (NG116)
Discussed in the source
NICE offers individual trauma-focused CBT to ages 7–17 after 3 months and considers it for other specified child groups. The umbrella wording does not independently name every branded protocol.
Scope: Ages 5–17 with PTSD or clinically important symptoms; age and time since trauma matter
- Trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy: NCTSN resource listing
Discussed in the source
SAMHSA lists the NCTSN TF-CBT resource. A resource listing is not a graded CPG recommendation.
Scope: TF-CBT information for children/adolescents and caregivers
Theraplay
Ann Jernberg · 1967
Guidelines and official sources (1)
1 evidence registry check
Read the recommendation and its scope. A source may discuss an approach without recommending it.
- Theraplay: program ratings
Not a treatment recommendation
CEBC assigns a rating of 3, promising research evidence, in this topic. The rating is a registry assessment rather than a clinical guideline recommendation.
Scope: Infant and early-childhood mental-health topic; the broader program serves children and caregivers.
Positive Parenting Program (Triple P)
Matt Sanders · 1999
Guidelines and official sources (1)
1 clinical guideline check
Read the recommendation and its scope. A source may discuss an approach without recommending it.
- Antisocial behaviour and conduct disorders in children and young people (CG158)
Discussed in the source
NICE recommends qualifying parent-training programs. Its recommendation text does not name Triple P; referencing a program in an evidence review is a different claim.
Scope: Parents of children aged 3–11 with or at high risk of oppositional defiant or conduct disorder.
Assessment not yet completed (10)
No completed assessment or source check for this topic is recorded yet.
Adlerian Therapy
Alfred Adler · 1912
Art Therapy
Naumburg / Kramer · 1940
Dialectical Behavior Therapy for Adolescents
Alec Miller, Jill Rathus, Marsha Linehan · 2007
Family-Based Treatment (FBT / Maudsley Approach)
Dare / Eisler (Maudsley); Lock / Le Grange (manual) · 1985
Motivational Interviewing
Miller / Rollnick · 1983
Reality Therapy / Choice Theory
William Glasser · 1965
Sandtray Therapy
Dora Kalff (Jungian) / Various · 1956
Solution-Focused Brief Therapy
de Shazer / Insoo Kim Berg · 1985
Strategic Family Therapy
Jay Haley / Cloe Madanes · 1973
Structural Family Therapy
Salvador Minuchin · 1974
Cases Featuring Associated Approaches
These teaching cases share approach links with this topic. They may illustrate a different presenting concern.
Reading This Page
Why are these approaches listed with Child & Adolescent Behavioral Problems?
The catalogue associates 20 approaches and 0 frameworks with this topic. These links support learning and comparison; association alone is not a treatment recommendation or evidence of effectiveness.
How should I read the evidence assessments?
Assessments are specific to the population and scope stated on each card. They include a rationale, source links, and a review date. An overall review of an approach does not automatically apply to this condition, and a randomized-study label does not by itself mean that a study found benefit.
What does "Assessment not yet completed" mean?
A condition-specific assessment has not been recorded. Approaches with checked sources appear in a separate assessment-pending group; a checked source can support, oppose, or discuss an intervention without recommending it. Neither pending group means that no research exists or that the approach is ineffective. Frameworks are shown separately.
Sources and Review Scope
Source links and dates on assessment cards apply to the stated population and rationale. The clinical overview and prevalence text above are separate authored content; an approach's evidence label does not verify those statements. Recorded narrative notes and citations remain available on individual modality pages, with their review status identified. The bibliography provides further reading.